Childhood renal disorders in Nigeria

Abstract

The common childhood renal disorders in Nigeria are post-infectious acute glomerulonephritis (PIAGN), nephrotic syndrome, hypertension, congenital anomalies and urinary tract infection. Children with PIAGN often present with hypertension, circulatory overload and hypoalbuminaemia. Nephrotic syndrome is characterized by a paucity of minimal change and a poor prognosis. Posterior urethral valves and hydronephrosis are the most frequent congenital anomalies. Children with congenital anomalies present late with advanced disease. The commonest malignancy is nephroblastoma, but Burkitt's lymphoma of the kidney also occurs. Both acute and chronic renal failure present depressing and distressing clinical problems, with an aggressive course and a high morbidity and mortality. Poor socio-economy has adverse effects on the presentation, management and follow-up of Nigerian children with renal disorders.

Presentation and pattern of childhood renal diseases in Gusau, North-Western Nigeria

“…The childhood renal diseases identified in our study were similar to what was obtained in studies conducted elsewhere in Nigeria [1,2,5,6,13,14] and the world; [7,[15][16][17] however, with varying rates. This observation could be explained by the fact that environmental factors, such as poor hygiene, poverty, and socioeconomic conditions, as well as genetic factors and late presentation, may have influenced the rates of childhood kidney diseases in our setting.…”

“…This observation may be attributed to a lack of dialysis for younger children, as peritoneal dialysis is not available in Zamfara State, late presentation, and cost of haemodialysis, all of which were common findings in various studies. [1,9,11] …”

“…Abdurrahman et al [1] in Zaria, Ocheke et al [2] in Jos, and Adedoyin et al [3] in Ilorin carried out evaluations of childhood renal diseases prevalent in Northern Nigeria. Morbidities of importance noted by these researchers included urinary tract infection (UTI), acute glomerulonephritis (AGN), acute kidney injury (AKI) from varying causes, nephrotic syndrome, congenital urinary tract obstructions and malignancies, with varying rates.…”

Spectrum of Kidney and Urinary Tract Diseases in Kashmiri Children.

“…In developed countries, proper documentation, with established renal registries often provide data to guide stakeholders in resource allocation 10,11 . This is in contrast to what is obtainable in developing countries like ours, where low prio rity is accorded, partly due to the focus on communicable diseases and also because of a lack of data on pediatric kidney diseases, with resultant overall poor outcome in these group of patients 12,13,14,15,19,17,18,19,20,21,22 .…”

Haemorheological Profiles and its Pearson correlation among patients with nephrotic syndrome, South West Nigeria.

“…Nephrotic syndrome is a leading cause of paediatric admission outside urinary tract infection (UTI) and post streptococcal glomerulonephritis in Nigeria (Eke and Eke, 1994;Aburrahman et al, 1990). Most caucasian series report NS as a disease of preschool aged children with peak age incidence of 2-3 years, affecting more males than females (McEnery and Frederic, 1976;Manoo et al, 1990).…”